Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. This amendment seeks to create a balanced approach. Having been at St. Margaret's at 5 a.m. and listened to aircraft coming and going, it is clear to me that the noise is horrendous. I am aware that there is a facility in place to purchase properties that are directly in the flight path. However, there is some question about how those properties will be valued. There is also an acceptance by the residents in the area that there has to be some noise, and they are willing to accept a change to the amendment that was made, namely, amendment No. 85 tabled by Deputy Clare Daly. They accept that that amendment would effectively close the airport. However, they are not prepared to accept the levels of noise envisaged going forward and are looking for a reduction in the proposed number of night flights.

We are trying to change the Bill so that it is in some way acceptable to our colleagues. The Minister will know that there are a number of amendments to be discussed tonight, and that the Government defeated a proposed amendment to the Order of Business in which we tried to stop the taking of Report Stage. We wanted this Bill to get proper scrutiny in the Seanad; that is the role of this House. Sadly, we do not feel that the Bill will now get the type of scrutiny to which the residents of the area are entitled and which the legislation deserves. That is disturbing, to say the least. In pushing through the Bill in this way, we feel that the democracy of legislation, and how legislation is guided through both Houses of the Oireachtas, has compromised on this occasion. I appreciate that the Minister does not set out the timetable for Committee Stage or Report Stage, but when both stages are pushed together, leaving no time between Committee State and Report Stage to resubmit amendments, some of us are left with the feeling that this is no more than a charade.Many of us, and I will let others speak for themselves, feel that what we are going through here is a charade. Given the support of the Fianna Fáil Party for the legislation, we feel, frankly, there is no way that any amendment has any chance of being accepted by the Government side. Therefore, I wonder why I am standing here and what I am hoping to achieve. I will leave it at that for the moment.